The Emblem of Souls
by ZiggyLoveGoRawr
Summary: Out casted from society, they hid behind their ink. They were not expecting someone else to come in and break down all of their barriers that they built together only to make their bonds to each other stronger. OOC AH Lemons
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Out casted from society, they hid behind their ink. They were not expecting someone else to come in and break down all of their barriers that they built together only to make their bonds to each other stronger.

**AN: Trying out a new story that I've had in my head for a while now. I made a polyvore account so outfits and cars are on my profile.**

**This was not edited so sorry for any mistakes.**

**Enjoy!**

**-ZiggyLove**

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The ink that ran along my body conveyed my innocence lost. Each piece of work told a story. Stories of drunken nights and hardships endured. So many cover my body that the ink practically runs through my veins like blood.

Blood.

Blood lost, blood gained.

My past is not something that I want to relive, yet I paint these everlasting pictures that are daily reminders to what I have done, what I have lost, what I have lived. Call me masochistic but this is my drug.

Almost no one understands how at the ripe age of nineteen I could have seen and lived through so much already.

I was never normal, could never have had a normal teenager's life. I grew up in a small town called Forks. Population: A little over three thousand, with one little elementary school, one middle school and one high school. Forget college, you weren't expected to go. Once you reached graduation, you were to take on work and keep the small town going. I was fine with this for I fully expected to ditch this town once I was done with school. Since there is no expectation for a college career, the state felt that they had to impose a new law that stated that high school in the small town of Forks would last another two years and act as a community college of the sort. This way anyone who wanted to leave this dreary wet hell wouldn't be that unprepared for the real world.

I was out casted from the moment I popped into this world. My mother, a whore for all intents and purposes, left my father when I was just old enough to remember her. She couldn't at least have left before I had to any recollection of her, you know what they say, you cannot miss what you never knew. But I am happy to say that she was a horrible enough woman that she left no imprint in my life other than the drunken hazes and bruises she left in her wake, I have no idea what Charlie saw in her. My father. Oh what a man. Chief of fucking police in this small forgotten town, yet he cannot seem to keep his own daughter from going out at the age of fourteen to get her first tattoo. And how do you think she paid for said tattoo? That's right, you guessed it. I lost my fucking virginity to pay for a tattoo the size of a slice of cheese. That tattoo of a heart still resides on my arm as a reminder to never again wear my heart on my sleeve. It'll only hurt you in the long run.

The only exceptions to that rule were to my only friends that also resided in this dismal excuse of a town. Edward Masen and Alice Brandon. They both, like me, hid themselves in their own ink. In fact that is where I met both of them. When I was thirteen I went with my friend, Jacob to get his first tattoo and when we walked into the shop, there was Edward, all scrawny and awkward, sitting in a chair getting his own first. It was one hell of a first too. It took three sessions with all the damn detail, but it was definitely worth it in the long run. It was a tribal design that covered his left shoulder and some of his left peck. I later found out that the significance for this tattoo was to be bold like the jagged lines that his tattoo consisted of, and to just live your life without a second thought. So far he has done pretty well with that. We have been inseparable since.

Alice. She was Edward's friend that he brought with him to get his tattoo. They had just met each other as well and found a common ground with their interest in permanent body art. Edward with his tattoos and Alice with her piercings. Don't get me wrong, all three of us have a fair share of each, but Alice's true addiction is in piercing anything and everything she can. I was sitting with Jake when I decided to go outside for a smoke. It was outside the shop where I met Alice. She was outside smoking before she got her tongue pierced. I could tell that she was excited but also nervous, it wasn't her first piercing but this was the tongue we were talking about. I had already gotten mine pierced when I turned twelve. Call me crazy for being so young but that was just something I did to pass the time in my boring life. Alice began asking me questions a mile a minute once she saw that I already had mine pierced. Usually I didn't like bouncy people considering I was more of a mellow person, but there was something about Alice that I liked immediately. She was tiny in the extreme, I mean at thirteen years old, we are not anywhere near fully developed, but I was already five feet and Alice was still at least four and a half feet. I told her that the worst of the pain was initially and that after that she would be okay. The tongue is, after all, the fastest healing place to be pierced. After we finished our smokes, we went back inside and Alice introduced me to Edward. Then she proceeded to tell me that she needed me to sit with her while she got her piercing. I gladly obliged, happy of the prospect of meeting new friends that I genuinely liked.

When Alice finished we went back out and I talked to both Edward and Alice. Jake also jumped into the conversation until the artist told him to stop moving which caused us all to laugh. I found out that both Edward and Alice were in the process of moving to Forks and were going to be next door neighbors. Even better was the fact that the houses their families bought were right across the street from my house. For once in my life it felt like something was going right. We have all been inseparable ever since and both Edward and Alice were there when I had a falling out with Jake four months later. Two months after that when I turned fourteen, I got my first tattoo. My colorful anatomical heart on the underside of my bicep. It is a painful but necessary reminder to never again wear my heart on my sleeve where it can easily be ripped off and taken advantage of.

Edward and Alice were there for that too.

All three of us were haunted by our own demons. In fact before Alice moved to Forks, she was a foster child. She doesn't remember her biological parents who she lived with until she was eleven, when her next door neighbor found her lying, passed out, on her front step. Apparently, her parents were druggies and had used Alice as their own personal human lab rat to test their new concoctions on in order to see her reactions to the new drugs they were making. It was a despicable case of abuse and in a way, we are all glad that she doesn't remember her disgusting excuses for parents. They definitely did not deserve Alice.

Edward in his own way was a foster child as well, but he still lived with family. His aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle Cullen took him in after his alcoholic father beat his mother and gambled all of their money away. Edward was lucky enough to be sent to boarding school while all of this happened at home and therefore he was not exposed to it. But that doesn't make it any less hard on him. When you leave for school with a perfect family and come back with your mother in the hospital on suicide watch and your father in rehab, it really messes up our mind.

Over the next six years, we would fill our skin with metal and ink. All three of us got full back pieces of our own personal demons, reminders of what hid underneath our skin. It took a really long time to plan those out, and they are probably the most meaningful to all three of us where our pasts are concerned, I mean they take up our entire fucking backs so they better be pretty damn important. Edward got his done in five sessions, mine took six and Alice's took eight because she is so fucking tiny and she hates pain. I don't blame her, I'm a sucker when it comes to needles, but the pain I love, I welcome it.

We were a pretty messed up trio, and alone we would all probably be on the streets dealing or selling our bodies, but together, we kept each other sane. We were in no way shape or form emo or gothic like the rumors say, but we just don't care enough to prove them wrong. We were not popular, but we were well known. Our marked skin and pierced flesh were like flashing lights that said _stay away_. People were scared of us, and even teachers did not dare to cross us after school let out. Our lives sound so much like a melodrama, but we really don't do anything. What gives us our reputation is what people make us out to be. The fact that we are together all the time just fuels all of those rumors.

We would like nothing more than to just tell them all to go and fuck themselves, but that would only be feeding the fire, and that is definitely not what we need. In no way were any of us poor, in fact we were probably the three richest people in the fucking town, even though that isn't saying much since our town consists of lower income families. Edward's biological parents are both persons of the state, so they had no need for money, and therefore, whatever his dad managed to not gamble away was signed over to him once he turned eighteen. It was still a huge sum and made Edward an overnight millionaire.

Alice's story is one for the books. The little pixie has a way of predicting things, so the day after her eighteenth birthday, she declared that she was going to go buy a lottery ticket. Edward and I thought she was crazy, after all look at where we were. Who in their right minds would put the winning ticket in fucking Forks, Washington? We tried to convince her that she would be better off buying it down in Olympia or Seattle, but no, fucking pixie had to buy it at the only convenience store that Forks had to offer. The money pot? 2.2 billion. It was one of those pots that hadn't been claimed for over a year and a half so it just kept on building. It was bound to have more than one winner, but as luck turns out, guess who won that fucking jackpot? That's right, Alice is a fucking billionaire, and good thing at that too cause the girl loves to shop designer, but hey, we all like nice things, and it pays for all the ink and metal.

I, like Edward, inherited my money, but it wasn't overnight like E. From the time I was little, I knew that when I turned eighteen I would be inheriting a fucking large ass trust fund from Charlie's parents. Charlie may be a minimum wage police chief, but his parents were definitely not hillbillies. His mother was a successful investor and his father was known as the billionaire ball-buster lawyer of California. Since I was their only grandchild, I was doted upon, that is whenever I actually got to see them which was only a handful of times since they didn't really talk to Charlie. In a way I believe that that is one of the main reasons why my mother stayed around for as long as she did, she was hoping to cash in big. But when it was made blatantly obvious that she was not going to receive anything at least until I turned eighteen, she split like a purebred racehorse.

Fucking cunt.

People guessed that we were well off because of the clothes we wear and our means of transportation, but other than that, we try to hide it, except Alice that is. When she won the lottery it was like a storm flew into our small town. Everyone wanted to know how this small girl who didn't look a day over sixteen who lived in a small forsaken town, won the lottery. Especially one that hadn't seen any winners in over a year. Countless of charities asked for donations and the year she won, Fork's amount of homeless people rose. Not that people in Forks were going broke because of Alice, but because homeless people from other towns were coming to Forks to try and mooch off of Alice's winnings. Alice generously donated to meaningful charities, especially to drug awareness ones, but she stood her ground when it came to homeless people trying to claim that they were related to her in order to get a piece of that fat check.

You might be wondering what we did in terms of our social lives in the last seven years that we have known each other. Well when we all turned eighteen, which coincidentally enough, our birthday's all fell within two weeks of each other, we moved out of our respective homes and into one that we bought together. The only thing was that all of our parents were okay with it as long as we didn't move out of this town until we were done with school.

Edward and I did try dating when we were sixteen. We lasted a year and a half until one day we just decided that we work better as friends. Alice and him also tried it out, but called it quits after a few weeks saying that it was like sleeping with your brother, which it was, it was as close to incestuous as we could get. All three of us still got together occasionally, but only after a hard night of partying. The good thing about it was that we were too close to be awkward about it when the three of us woke up the next morning naked with no recollection of what happened the previous night. We would just detangle our bodies, take separate showers and come back together as friends.

This brings us back to the present. I was lying in bed waiting for my alarm clock to ring to get up and get ready for another monotonous day at school. I could hear Alice's iPod playing while she was taking a shower. She was such a morning person, but I knew for a fact that she woke up extra early to get ready today. We were expecting three new students. Same grade and apparently the reason why they were coming to Forks was because they were all kicked out of their old school, but we of all people know how false rumors can be. Charlie did say that they moved into the house three doors down from him.

Of all three of us, Alice was the one that was affected by our social out casting the most. She was a social butterfly at heart and even though she was perfectly content with Edward and me, part of her still desired to branch out, but with out reputations it was hard. But this explained the extra effort put into her getting ready today. Edward and I were both excited too but we were much more composed about it.

Suddenly, my alarm clock started blaring out the lyrics to Amanda Blank's song Might Like You Better. I quickly shut it off and hopped out of bed. Way too fast. I started to fall but at the last second, I caught myself on the side of my bed. I never used to be clumsy, but ever since I grew, it was like my mind didn't register the height difference, apparently in my mind I was still 5'4" when really I was tall for a girl standing just short of 5'11". It just made my freak status all the more well known. Who doesn't know the pierced and inked up tall freak? Alice grew a lot considering that when I met her she was the size of my pinky, figuratively speaking that is, standing at around 5'7". Lastly, Edward, he is a giant now at around 6'5". We all go running together to stay in shape and even though we don't play any sports for school, we are all pretty decent at basketball.

I hopped into the shower and from the weak water pressure, I could tell that all three of us were in the shower right now. I washed my hair face and body and then shaved. When I got out I dried off and then wrapped my towel around my body. I walked to my closet to decide what to wear. I decided on a black and white print flow-y tank with white skinny jeans, my black pumps and my leather jacket. I was proud of my outfit and I had to admit that I looked fucking good.

I went downstairs to grab a cereal bar and a bottle of water when Alice came waltzing downstairs. She was wearing my hibiscus print jeans that I let her borrow with a white strapless top with grey boots and a leather jacket. Now I'm all for the guys but Alice looked fucking hot.

"Damn girl looking good. Any reason in particular as to why you look so put together?" I smirked at her. Alice just laughed and said,

"I could say the same thing about you, Bitch." We were laughing when Edward came downstairs.

He was wearing a plain black t-shirt that hugged his well defined torso with dark wash jeans and black Pumas. He decided to forgo the jacket today. Normally even though it is no secret how armored up we are, we still try our best to cover most of our ink during school hours. It's the least we can do to prevent our teachers from having heart attacks.

"What's so funny you two?" Edward asked raising a brow.

"Oh you know, this and that" Alice and I both responded at the same time. It was an inside joke that we all had together when the story wasn't worth repeating.

"Well then if you are finished we really have to get to school. I have to stop by at Carlisle's place first, so either we leave together now or we take separate cars." Edward explained

Alice got a speculative look in her eyes and then responded,

"We'll take separate cars today" she said with a grin, I had no idea what this pixie was up to now and by Edward's raised brow, neither did he.

"Care to explain your reasoning Ali?" I asked

"Well what's a little show and tell gonna hurt the new kids, right?" she grinned evilly

Edward and I both stared at her for a beat before chuckling.

"Okay then, that's settled. I'll see you two at school" He turned and started walking towards the garage, "Drive safely!" He called over his shoulder.

"You too!" Alice and I both yelled back to him.

We could both hear Edwards bike roar to life right before we heard him screeching off down the road. Another thing about out little impromptu family: we love speed.

"So are we also taking separate cars or are we going together?" I asked Alice once the sound of Edward's bike disappeared in the distance.

"Separate silly" Alice said wincing slightly while she tried not to scratch her newest piece of work on her left hip. It was an identical heart like mine but the meanings behind were different. While mine was to not let people in as easily, Alice's was to keep her heart open to new things and to always stay open-minded.

After about ten more minutes of just hanging out eating our breakfasts, we raced each other to the garage to get into our respective cars. Alice had a beautiful Ferrari 612 while I had my baby, my Lamborghini Gallardo. I was actually a bit surprised that Edward didn't take his Aston Martin, but once we opened up our garage doors I knew why. It was a rare but beautiful day. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. I revved my engine and sped out of my garage pausing just long enough to hit the button to close my garage door, Alice hot on my tail. We sped down the roads blasting our stereos, not even caring if there was a hidden police officer hiding behind the next bend in the road. All three of us had spotless records when it came to our driving. There was no way in hell that we would risk any of our babies due to a high speed chase. The drive to school takes about twenty minutes since when we moved, we moved to the town's limits just to get that much farther away from our parental supervisors. Call us immature, but if we're going to move into a different house to get away from the parentals, well then god dammit we were going to push our limits. With our speed we were pulling up into the school's parking lot in a little under twelve minutes. I was actually surprised that Edward had beaten us since he had to make an extra stop to go to Carlisle and Esme's. He was leaning against his bike with his arms crossed and I had to admit, if I didn't know him, he would look really fucking intimidating. The ink just adds to the effect. Everyone was giving him a wide berth, but the girls were still staring. We may be outcasts, but both Alice and Edward were almost inhumanly beautiful and I am in no way vain, but I did know that I was far from the worst fish in the pond.

Normally the spaces on either side of whosever car we take would be left car free due to the other students being too scared to accidentally leave a scratch or ding on one of our means of transportation. I never minded this since our cars were our babies, but it just added to our separation to the other students. But today on the left side of Edward's beautiful BMW s1000rr was another beauty. A gorgeous red BMW M6 coupe was parked next to Edward and on the other side of the beamer was another beauty, a Ducati 1098. These had to belong to the new kids, and suddenly I was even more excited to see who they were. I just hoped they weren't the average spoiled snob that would only make our school experience more miserable. Alice and I pulled into the two empty spaces to the right of Edward's bike and I shut off my engine and got out of the car.

Right then I saw a tall boy with wavy blond locks that fell to right under his ears, walking out of the main office and towards the Ducati with a helmet.

_Ahh so he is the owner of that beautiful piece of machinery…_

He had on a white t-shirt covered by a leather jacket with dark wash jeans and Docs. He was the most handsome man that I have ever laid eyes on. Two others walked out of the main office then, a gorgeous blond that seemed fit for the runway and a brawny boy. Both were tall and insanely good looking. She was wearing a cute multicolored top with an off-white leather, bleach spotted jeans and a pair of white heels. The brawny boy was wearing light jeans with a white t-shirt and red sweater. They both walked towards the beamer and I wasn't surprised when the girl was the one with the keys, that car just did not fit the brawny boy. All three of them were extremely good looking, and they had the potential to become the most popular kids in the school, but none of them looked stuck up, in fact all of them looked down when they walked and when they did look up, you could tell that there was pain in their eyes.

Just then the Ducati owner took off his jacket and to say I was surprised at what I saw would be an understatement. All up and down his arms were his own reminders of the life he had lived.

Right then I made it my goal to find out all of the stories that his ink had to offer. Suddenly, school wasn't as dull.

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**AN: So, should I continue? Review to let me know whether you want this to go on or not :)**

**-ZiggyLove**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello Lovlies! Here is another chapter for you! **

_**Make sure you read the authors note at the bottom!**_

**About Living in War if you read that story as well****; I'm working on Chapter 15, but I needed a break to think about where I'm going with it. So for now this is what you're going to get. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**-ZiggyLove**

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_Previously on The Emblem of Souls…_

_**BPOV**_

_Just then the Ducati owner took off his jacket and to say I was surprised at what I saw would be an understatement. All up and down his arms were his own reminders of the life he had lived._

Right then I made it my goal to find out all of the stories that his ink had to offer. Suddenly, school wasn't as dull.

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**JPOV**

I honestly don't know why we put ourselves through this time and time again. We move, stay for a year and then disappear into thin air. We don't like to stay in one place long enough to make memories and meet new people because the truth is, we don't want people to see how truly broken we really are.

For this reason, and this reason only, we do what we have to do to be forgotten, which usually ends up entailing that we move after a mere year of being in one place.

I don't really think we noticed exactly how much impact our nomadic lifestyle was having on us. Yeah it was great to travel and collect ink from various places around the world, but that is not what or how we planned out our lives. Well actually how we planned our lives is a bunch of bullshit now ever since that god awful night...

Name is Jasper Whitlock. 19 years old, twin and inked to the brim with my life's story. Twin is Rosalie Whitlock. We are probably closer than most twins especially being of the opposite gender, but we never let that bother us. I would do anything for Rose and she would do anything for me, which we have proved to each other countless times before. The third person that makes up our little trio is Emmet McCarty. Most reliable friend any guy with a sister as beautiful as Rose can ask for.

There is really only one way to describe Rose, and that is beautiful. Now in no way do I condone incest or anything of the sort, and I have never had nor will I ever have those kinds of feelings towards my sister, but I am a guy, and my sister is gorgeous. Tall, blond and a body that she works hard to maintain and many women would kill for. She has one of the hardest exteriors of anyone I have ever met, but considering what she has been though, I count myself lucky that that is the only side effect that I have to deal with. Deep down she is still the loving and carefree sister that I once knew, though she rarely comes out, I know without a doubt that she is fiercely loyal and loving to Emmett and me.

Emmett is a bear. There is really no other way to describe him. I am not small by any means but Emmett is huge. Built like a body builder you would have to be downright inebriated at your worst or just completely off the wall mad to cross Emmett if you didn't know him. Ironically, out of the three of us, Emmett is the most giving when it comes to meeting others. Not that that happens often since people are too scared to even approach us, even on our good days.

One might be wondering what our story is, and to tell you the truth, we are all still trying to figure out that for ourselves. We are all so lost that it is hard to find even grounding a lot of the times and without Rose or Em I would have gone off the deep end the day I saw my mother put a shotgun in her mouth and pull the trigger.

The day that it happened we were all seven and were racing each other home on our bikes. Em had been living with us for almost a year already. Both his parents were alcoholics and violent ones at that. We took him in thinking that he would be exposed to how a family is really supposed to look and act like. We were so far from the truth that it is actually embarrassing to admit. The three of us had just walked into the kitchen trying to decide who we would consider the winner. There in the kitchen sat our mother, bruised and battered with a bottle of what I now know were antidepressants sitting in front of her. When we walked in, the first thing we all noticed were the bruises and cuts that littered her beautiful face. Being seven we really had no clue what had happened, for all we knew she could have been riding her bike and just fell like we did all the time. Those were the kinds of reasons that we all came up with anyway.

What in fact turned out to be the real reason was that my mother was coming home and saw my dad with another woman in their bed. I know it may seem like a typical, 'he cheated on her story', but this other woman was in fact my mom's sister, our fucking aunt. When she threatened to leave him, he beat her up and the left himself, taking our fucking whore of an aunt with him. She waited for us kids to come home and when we did she already had the gun. In the middle of Texas, carrying a gun around was not something abnormal so we didn't think anything of it; we were seven for god's sake. She came and kissed us all on our heads and said to go upstairs and put on our favorite CD of hers that we all loved but she would never let us touch. She said to turn the volume up all the way and wait for her to come up to get us. Excited, we all raced upstairs trying to get to the player first. Rose ended up having the honors and we listened for a few minutes before Rose declared that she had to use the bathroom. For some unknown reason she wanted to go ask mom if she would come with her so we went back downstairs with he music still on only to come face to face with the worst sight of our lives.

She had her eyes shut tightly with her toe on the trigger, nozzle in her mouth. Being seven it was confusing as to what she was doing but I knew it wasn't right, I grabbed Rose with both arms and pulled her into my chest to block her vision right when mom opened her eyes and pulled he trigger. I will never forget the look she gave me. It was like she was sorry and she regretted it, but by the time she saw us standing there, it was too late. At the same time though, she looked relieved, like she was finally doing something that she had wanted to do for a while. All she left in her wake were our memories and a fucking big ass mess to clean up. As the years went by and I understood more and more of what she had really done I couldn't help but feel angry that she was selfish enough to take herself away from us when we needed her the most. Never did I know just how selfish the act really was, and just how much we lost that day...

Mom was four months pregnant with another girl. We were going to have another sister...

When dad got home he was drunk out of his mind and when he saw the police there, he went berserk, ending himself up in jail overnight. When he got out he was hungover and angry. He could only remember brief flashes of the previous day and when they told him that mom died while minors were in the house, he immediately put the blame on us. When he got home we were allowed to go back to the house since he had custody of us. He just stayed sober long enough to yell his head off, hit Em and I a couple of times and then hit it off with the bottle. It took a toll on all of us being so young and I noticed as the years passed that we were slowly becoming bitter and unsociable. It didn't get any better for the next three years but it didn't get worse either.

Then on Rose and my eleventh birthday the unthinkable happened. Emmett was born exactly a month before us so we just decided to celebrate together. Over the years the three of us had gotten used to not have parties on our birthdays. In fact it was treated like any other day. I bet to our father we were still the seven year olds that 'ruined his marriage and killed his wife'.

_Yeah keep telling yourself that dickhead._

Even to the outside world we were nothing, but we meant the world to each other so every year we would hold a small party with just the three of us. We would ride our bikes down to the ice cream shop and beg until we had enough for one small cone and then share our treat between the three of us. Sometimes we got lucky and someone who didn't know who we were gave us enough money to buy more, but that was rare. Mostly people just gave us money out of pity.

That night we rode our bikes home and got back just in time for dad. He was more drunk than usual and he ordered Rose upstairs. This wasn't unusual since he usually had he decency, even when drunk, to not hit Em or me in front of a lady. But not this night.

Instead of slapping us around, he followed Rose upstairs and locked her door.

Her screams lasted for over an hour...

Em and I sat outside helpless, all attempts at breaking down the door, failed. We even called the police, but who believes an eleven year old?

That was the night the three of us became orphans. All of dads past offenses could be forgiven with time, but not this. He was no longer my father, but a devil of a man that drove my mother to suicide, killed my unborn baby sister, took away my twins innocence, beat my best friend to tears and killed my spirit. This man was the epitome of evil, and we had to get out of there. When he came out of the room Em and I rushed in only to find it looking like a crime scene. There was blood all over the sheets and broken picture frames showed signs of struggle. And then there, huddled in the farthest corner from the door, was Rose. The cuts would heal, the bruises would fade, but part of our beloved sister died that day, and I haven't seen her since.

We rushed to her side and reached out to her only to have her flinch away from us. It took us three hours to talk Rose down and let her know that we were with her and we weren't going to hurt or leave her. Never did we say it was going to be alright because let's just be blunt here, it was never going to be alright. Our fucking biological father raped his barely eleven year old daughter. No man in his right mind would do something like that.

We left that night. The three of us packed what we could in our backpacks and high-tailed it out of there. We got on a bus with weird looks from the driver and the other passengers and when asked where are parents were, we told them that they were waiting for us on the other end and that we had just been visiting family. We ended up in Austin where Emmett had an aunt. That is where we stayed for the next seven years. Or in the area at least, we jumped around from school to school never staying in one long enough to have to get to know people and for people to get to know us. We just let the rumors go free. Emmett's aunt took us in and treated us like her own. When we turned thirteen, she took us all to go get our first tattoos. Rose got a bird on her left hip that represented her lost spirit, but still it files around freely. Em got a shield on his forearm that represented his protective nature and I got a twisted tribal design on my right shoulder to always remember that I can change but no matter what, I would always be there for Rose and Emmett. Mine was the biggest and I decided to just get the outline. When I turned fifteen I got the rest of it done.

When the three of us celebrated our sixteenth birthdays we went out and got full back tattoos that incorporated the Latin words, 'verum sanctimonia diligo' it translated roughly to truthful, pure and loving. Those three words were what the three of us lived by, always be truthful to you and the ones you love, be pure and don't sell yourself short and finally be loving no matter your situation. All three were hard to follow but as long as we had each other we were going to try, and we did, however, other people didn't try. They out casted us and pegged us as dangerous. Yeah sometimes we lived on the edge and we hid ourselves in ink but what teen didn't? Okay so what if no teen had as many, if any, tattoos as we did, deep down we just wanted to be accepted.

We combined our back pieces with a Phoenix to symbolize that even if our spirits die, we will rise from our ashes and overcome life's great obstacles. Our matching back pieces took four sessions for Em and me and five for Rose since she didn't think she could take the pain anymore. I'm not a baby by any means but that shit fucking hurt.

Now one might be wondering how we paid for all of our work. Well as it turns out, Emmett's parents were not only good at drinking, but they were good at gambling as well. One night they ended up at the biggest horse race in the country, only god knows how they got there, and bet big on the underdog just to see what would happen. Turns out, the underdog was not too shabby and since he was the underdog prior, he had no other bets on him so they got all the winnings to themselves which totaled just under fifty million. Well then the next lesson comes into play, don't drink and drive. But they did, and they ended up wrapped around a tree. They never changed their wills since before Emmett left so he automatically got everything even though he was underage. For Rose and me, we found a hidden will that belonged to our mother. We always knew that she came from a rich family in the oil business, but we grew up thinking that all that money was put into the farm so that it could be sold. But as it turns out for us, our grandparents never saw much in their other daughter that whored her self so easily to our father – and they never spent the money, they just told that story to mollify their gold-digging whore of a daughter – so they gave all of that hidden unknown money to our mother, and before she died, I guess she wrote her own will stating that we were to get all of the money, no questions asked, no age hindrance. That made us overnight billionaires. Now let's be real, fifteen year olds do not know what to do with that kind of money, so we spent it on our ink, and I'm proud of that fact because I wouldn't change my permanent pictures for anything excluding Rose and Emmett.

So here we are, 18 years old and covered in ink starting at a new school. We ran out of schools to go to in Texas so we decided to move to Seattle, but none of the schools there were welcoming with how we looked and with our records. It must look bad if you've gone to seven different schools in the past seven years. That's how we ended up here, in the small town of Forks in the state of Washington where the weather matches our moods 99% of the time.

This is where I must confess something. As I explained, the three of us are no longer poor, but that does not mean that we flaunt our wealth. In fact very few people know about the financial aspects of our lives. But there are three things that we do splurge on: metal,  
ink, and means of transportation. We fucking love speed, but surprisingly none of us have ever received a ticket or had an accident.

Rose actually makes some money on the side fixing, modifying and tinkering with cars. She has made quite a name for herself in fact but she never tells people her age or that she is a female until she is done with their cars, she makes either Em or me meet the customer and deal with all of the preliminaries. This has part to do with her distrust in men and part to do with the fact that men don't like it when a woman knows more about their car than they do.

All three of us have our fair share of vehicles but we all have our favorites. Rose has her BMW M6, her baby which she loves almost as much as Em and me. Em has his Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and I had my Ducati which I am noticing is pretty unpractical here, considering it rains more than 80% of the year. But it is my baby nonetheless and I will ride it whenever I fucking can, however, when I can't I'll settle for my Audi R8.

This brings us to know. Here the three of us are, emancipated teens. The main deciding factor for coming to this school in such a small town where people are no doubt going to talk is the fact that they have added on two extra years to their high school program. See the thing is that not only were we not accepted in the schools we saw in Seattle, but we are also already 18. Most seniors are enrolled when hey are 17, any later than that you have to just start classes at a community college and get your credits to test for your GED. No matter how many high schools we went to, all three of us were determined to graduate and receive our diplomas. Fuck the GED bullshit. But since we are already 18, it is hard to find a school that will allow us to enroll this late at our age.

I could hear Rose downstairs and from the banging I was guessing that she was cooking us breakfast. I'm really glad and lucky that I still have both Em and Rose with me. Last year, Rose and Em decided to become a couple much to my surprise and horror. But to my relief, they only lasted two months before they realized that their relationship would go further than that as brother and sister, but it still didn't save my ears from their rambunctious sex-a-thons. But in all honesty I probably deserved it for all the times I try dating. It usually just ends up as a one night stand, I just don't trust anyone not to hurt me, and I definitely don't trust myself not to hurt them when they find out just how broken I really am. Most girls don't even bother getting to know me, not that I offer up any information, they just see my looks my ink and metal and see _danger._ This entices them and draws them to me. In no way shape of form am I vain or conceited, but I'm not ugly, and it helps me to relieve my sexual tension.

I pulled myself out of my bed and hopped into the shower. The three of us had bought a house on the outskirts of town so that if the need to ever escape rose, we cold just dash out and in a couple of minutes we would just be a memory in the small town called Forks. Our house wasn't anything extravagant, a simple four bedroom four and a half bath kind of deal. Like I said, we don't flaunt our wealth. When the water temperature started to go down I got out and dried off. I put on a pair of dark wash jeans and a white t-shirt. I glanced outside and saw that it was sunny.

_Maybe it's a sign that this year is the year for change..._

I knew I wasn't going to waste this beautiful day so I put on my leather jacket and laced up my Doc Martens. I went downstairs to the smell of eggs and bacon. Being from Texas, we all grew up with breakfast being the most important meal of the day no matter what time it was served. The table was already set and the plates of food were already dished out. Emmett was already sitting stuffing his face. I went up to Rose and kissed her cheek and said good morning. She smiled and told me to eat while she went upstairs to get ready. I walked by Emmett and patted his shoulder; he nodded in response, his mouth too full for coherent words. I sat down and ate my sisters delicious cooking in comfortable silence with Emmett. He was already dressed and ready to go, ever the morning person. When we finished, we cleaned up and waited for Rose to come back down. When she did I told them that I was going to take my bike and they could follow in their cars. Emmett decided to leave his baby at home and just ride with Rose. They both put on jackets in attempt to hide their art in order not to scare the attending students and staff of Forks High with our appearances too much. When we went to the supermarket last night we had already heard some of the rumors. Neither Rose nor Em knew exactly where the school was so I would just lead the way. I knew that we would be early, but we always liked to get a feel for the school that we would be attending for the next year before people started arriving, because once other students starting piling in, we get nervous and just want to jump up and leave. This way we have time to acclimate before others arrived, and had no choice but to stay. I sped off toward the school and once we got there we were the only students parked in the student parking lot except for another fucking gorgeous BMW S1000RR. She was a beauty, but the owner was nowhere in sight. I parked two spaces down from the bike allowing Rose to pull up next to it. I took off my helmet and pulled out my smokes lighting up three and holding one out for Rose and another for Em who had just gotten out of Rose's car. They came up and took them with grateful smiles. I knew that they needed something to relax them, and coffee wasn't going to cut it.

"We're gonna have to go into the main office to get our schedules and stuff. We also need to sign our other paperwork and shit to make us official students." I told them both before taking a long drag from my cigarette.

Both of them nodded at me as we continued to smoke in comfortable silence for a couple more minutes. When Rose snuffed out her cigarette we all followed suit and I led them into the main office with my helmet under my arm. Right before we entered the small office I saw a boy with striking bronze hair stick his head out of the cafeteria doors with a cigarette in his mouth. I've never seen anyone with that color hair before in my life, and we've been to a lot of places.

Inside the small stuffy office was an older woman with reddish hair. According to her name tag, her name was, Mrs. Cope. When we walked in she looked up with a smile but when she saw our appearances she paled considerably and looked a little scared, apparently rumors in this town got to and affected the older people as well...

Then again, three pierced people walking into your office while you're alone isn't the most comforting situation. At least we covered our ink; she may have just had a heart attack if she saw that as well.

"Hello ma'am my name is Jasper Whitlock and this here is Rosalie Whitlock and that is Emmett McCarty" I said gesturing to both sides where Rose and Em were, "I believe we have to sign some official papers and pick up our schedules." I finished with a smile.

Mrs. Cope seemed like she was in a daze of some sort but Em clearing his throat seemed to bring her back,

"Ah yes the new students. We've been expecting you, here you all need to sign these forms of school conduct and code." she said handing all of us three forms that were already highlighted with where we had to sign. Each of us signed our papers and handed them back to her.

"Thank you, now here are you schedules, and here is a form that you must get signed by every one of your teachers to ensure that you attended every class today." Another thing about our appearances? Adults automatically assumed we were bad students who liked to skip out and ditch class, even on our first day. Truth is, if we're emancipated, that means that we're free to do whatever the fuck we want, and if that means not going to a fucking institution that brain washes you, then that's our decision. But seeing as we're sending ourselves to school on our own fucking time, doesn't that mean that we're less likely to ditch? Damn people are stupid and so fucking judgmental these days.

"Thank you ma'am" I said politely, Rose and Em following suit.

"No problem. Make sure you bring those forms back at the end of your classes. You all have a nice day now" Mrs. Cope told us as we walked out of the small office into the fresh air.

I walked back down to my bike to put my helmet on the seat, Em and Rose trailing behind me. I took my jacket off revealing the ink on my arms and looked up and froze at what I saw. There parked next to the other bike was an amazing sight. Parked next to the bike was a gorgeous Lamborghini Gallardo, and next to that was a Ferrari 612. Two cars that were insanely beautiful topped off with the bike, was almost too much to bear, and here in this little Podunk of a town?

_Interesting. This year was not turning out remotely like our other years; never mind what we expected…_

But that isn't what stopped me in my tracks. The driver of the Lamborghini got out and walked towards the boy with the bronze hair who I now know is the owner of the bike since he was leaning against it, seemingly waiting for this girl. She was beautiful. No, that didn't even cover it, she was magnificent. Long legs, long mahogany hair, she was an angel. Another pixie like girl came skipping up to them, I deduced she was the driver of the Ferrari, and put her arm around my angel. It was then after gawking at the beauty before me that I noticed the boy, he was wearing a black t-shirt and his arms were, like Em, Rose and me, covered in ink. I did a double take but upon further evaluation, I noticed the metal that adorned all three of their faces and ears in various places.

And then she and her friend took their jackets off...

I gasped at what I saw and from my side I heard Rose and Em do the same. From what we could see of what they had both recently exposed to us, they were covered in ink as well.

Just then all three looked in our direction and when my eyes locked with my angel's, I saw the same pain that I see in Rose, Em and my own eyes everyday. These people were different than the others. They were like us.

It was then that I made it my goal to learn everything about this girl that had me entranced by just her eyes. I wanted to know her story and at the same time, I wanted to tell her mine, something that I have never wanted to do before. I would make this angel my angel. I would save her from herself or from anything that tried to bring her down, and at the same time, she would save me, I just knew deep down that this year was going to change everything starting with the three inked and armored kids standing in close proximity to us in the parking lot of Forks High.

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**AN: Long ass chapter just for my Lovlies :) Review and I'll update, but not until I get up to at least 25 reviews, which I would deduce as a good response to this story, otherwise, I don't see the point in continuing…So review and spread the word about this story!**

**-ZiggyLove**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: A new chapter! For those of you that read Living in War, this will be a repeat…**

**I just finished my senior year of high school which is why I didn't update sooner, exams and whatnot bogged me down to the point where adding writing into the mix would not be enjoyable at all.**

**But I'm back! I will be going to the bay with friends for a few weeks and then I have graduation to attend to, which is why I'm updating both of my stories so close together. :)**

**Thank you to all of my readers who convinced me to continue this story.**

**I just want to reiterate that it's not that I was begging for readers, it is simply that I don't want to publish something that will not be appreciated for all the time and effort that I put into it. I hope that doesn't sound insensitive and bitchy, it's just how I feel. It took me a long time to feel comfortable to let others read my work, and I am still extremely insecure about it, so I need feedback…**

**Anyway!**

**A huge bear hug to my beta, Bamababe! You make my work 110% better :) Love ya!**

**Without further ado, I give you Chapter 3**

**- ZiggyLove**

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_Previously on The Emblem of Souls…_

_**JPOV**_

_It was then that I made it my goal to learn everything about this girl that had me entranced by just her eyes. I wanted to know her story and at the same time, I wanted to tell her mine, something that I have never wanted to do before. I would make this angel my angel. I would save her from herself or from anything that tried to bring her down, and at the same time, she would save me, I just knew deep down that this year was going to change everything starting with the three inked and armored kids standing in close proximity to us in the parking lot of Forks High._

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**Chapter 3**

BPOV

When my eyes locked with the blonde god that was standing across from me I felt something shift. No longer was I being held by a precarious strand of what I called my life. Something was building and it was because of these three new kids. Yeah they were different, yeah they looked like us, but I couldn't afford to break down my barriers when in the end I would just end up getting hurt. I knew that this was just me being paranoid, but growing up with a loose mother, I've learned not to trust anyone, even the people that put my beloved ink on my body. In my book, everyone has an ulterior motive, and I wasn't about to subject myself to that kind of pain. It would no doubt kill me.

When the mammoth of a man standing beside the blonde god began to approach us, I looked for the closest possible escape route. Fucking Edward had to go and pull me into his side though, effectively ruining any type of escape that I had planned. Fucking bastard...

I knew that this had the potential to be an interesting year, and that there was in fact a good chance that we could possibly make new friends that would actually mean something to us, but I was terrified at what might happen to our little trio if we let new people in. Would we still stick together? Would we still share our dark secrets with each other? I am not one to like this drastic of a change.

I couldn't help the shudder that escaped me. I couldn't allow us to be torn apart like that, not ever.

The bear of a man stopped when he was about three feet away followed closely by the blonde girl and the god.

Oh god this was going to be awkward...

"Nice rides" the big one said. To my right I saw Alice stiffen, what the hell is that about?

"Thanks" Edward replied a little hesitantly

"Names Emmett" he smiled cheekily, then pointed to his left, "this here is Jasper, and this is Rosalie" Emmett motioned to his right. I could already tell that he was the talker within the three of them. Much like Alice, he was the most exuberant, the people pleaser. Even though he seemed excited to see us, the smile that he presented did not reach his eyes. Much like the three of us, I recognized the ravages of unimaginable pain left within their souls.

Edward nodded at all three of them while Alice and I just stared. Alice's stare was due to her apparent mesmerized state while I dissected every move that the three people in front of us made. No matter how insanely good looking they were we could not afford to fall into a trap.

"Edward" Edward pointed at himself, then to me, "Bella" and finally to Alice, "Alice". Alice and I nodded when introduced.

The god spoke then, "Pleasure."

He said the word, but I couldn't tell if he meant that or not. His intense stare was locked on me. I struggled to maintain the barriers I worked so hard to create. To let them down, was to leave me vulnerable to pain. I worked too hard to protect myself to let a beautiful man unravel it all with a smile.

. I simply gave all three of them a hard stare, not daring to back down or look vulnerable. To anyone else they would probably cower away like they usually do when one of us even glance at them, but to the three new kids standing in front of us, I'm not sure if I succeeded or not.

His gaze did not lessen, and the longer we were standing in front of each other, the more uncomfortable I got. I was seriously thinking about skipping out on school for the day and just leaving. I was dying to see…_no Bella, you can't think about him yet_.

I gave the three of them tight smiles and turned around extricating myself out of Edward's tight embrace, and walked away. I noticed then that my hands were shaking. Never has someone had this affect on me. I hated him for that. With a trembling had, I reached into my bag for my cigarettes, and then dug around in my purse trying to find my lighter. Suddenly, one appeared in front of my face. I turned to look up at the person offering their custom made lighter, and saw Jasper, the Blonde God. The first thing I saw were his striking blue eyes that looked like a storm was brewing behind their depths. It was hard to avert my eyes from his, but when I did, I really took him in. I started at the arm that was offering the lighter to me and worked my way up to his shirt-clad muscled chest. Across the span of skin that I could see, his arms and chest held all the secrets that I wanted to know. Then my eyes sought out his and noticed a half confused, half

amused look staring back at me. I must have looked like a fucking creeper staring at him like that. I reached out and took the offered lighter and lit up. I immediately took a long drag and felt the soothing sensations of the nicotine spread through my body. He took out a smoke and lit up as well, and we smoked in comfortable silence for a while.

"That's amazing" he said suddenly. I looked over at him and saw him staring at my wrist where the word truth was written in Latin script with a butterfly flying out from the

molded letters. It was one of my more personal pieces, and it meant a lot that he saw it above all the others.

"Thanks" I replied with a smile

Looking at him I couldn't help but feel the nervous energy I felt earlier. The same feeling that I walked away from. I couldn't ponder it anymore when I noticed that he was talking to me.

"Do you think you could show me which way the English building is?" he asked a little hesitantly. I was immediately nervous again; I had English first as well, since there was only one English classroom, this meant that we were going to share a class together. And fucking bright and early in the morning...life couldn't get any better. Fuck.

I composed myself enough to respond, "yeah, sure. I have English first as well." With that, I found myself turning away from the insanely handsome god for the second time in less than half an hour, and walking away. Only this time, said handsome god was following silently behind me. I did not have the patience to turn back around to see if he was actually following me or not. If he wasn't then he could find his own goddamn way to the English building, I already offered.

I must have seemed like an insensitive bitch, but reality is that I just could not afford the pain of being left alone again. So I had abandonment issues. Fucking sue me.

English went by at a fucking snails pace; classes here always did. The only bright side was that Ali, Edward and I have pretty much the same schedules, but we always seemed to be ahead of the curriculum no matter how advanced the class. Hey we're inked not stupid.

By lunch I was about ready to jump out of my skin. I shared all but one class so far with Jasper, it was fucking torture. There seemed to be a pull on the cord holding me to the earth, but the cord led straight to Jasper. It was hard enough to catch myself every time I noticed I was moving closer to him, add in the immense amount of sexual tension and you got yourself full fucking house.

When I walked into the cafeteria, it was the cherry on top of a fucking piece of pie. There sitting at our table were the two new guys with E and Ali. The new girl was nowhere in sight, probably in the bathroom or something.

I couldn't take it anymore, I had to get out, and the nearest entrance was right next to our table. I made a beeline toward it hoping foolishly that they wouldn't see me.

"Bella!" Alice yelled to me, "Bella, where are you going?" I didn't even spare her a second glance. I simply couldn't; she would know where I was going and she would stop me. They would probably still find out, but this way I had time to actually get to where I wanted, no needed, to be.

I quickly got into my car and slammed it into reverse, by the time I was out of the parking lot, I was already pushing 50 and I was still nowhere near done accelerating. The speed slowly but surely calmed me down and allowed me to compose myself before I got to my destination. By the time I got to the sleep away daycare, I was completely calm and collected. All of the nervous energy that Jasper seemed to ignite within me was now replaced with raw excitement. I quickly walked into the center receiving the typical disappointed stares from the people around, whether due to my age or ink or both I could never tell, and I never gave a shit enough to care. The only reason why I came here in the first place was running toward me on unsteady feet.

"Mommy!" Tristan screamed, crashing into my legs with the force of a small three-year old. For the first time today I felt a huge smile stretch across my face while I picked up my son. I buried my face into the crook of his small neck and inhaled his scent, and in that instant all and any anxiety I felt earlier melted away. I felt his small arms wrap around my neck and squeeze tight in his version of a hug.

"I missed you so much mommy" my son told me, and I felt the tears prick at my eyes. Then, Tri pulled back to look a me with a huge goofy smile and I felt myself smiling goofily back.

"I missed you too, Tri. So much" I told him. Ever since I found out I was pregnant I made it my mission to make sure that he or she knew that I loved them with all of my heart. I still remember with crystal clarity the day Tri was conceived.

I always knew James would be trouble. I picked up a job at the library to keep me sane through the summer. I would be turning 16 in just a matter of months and though it was hard to find work that wasn't simply volunteer based, it wasn't impossible, and I was determined. I thought the job came by luck, but as it turns out it was my looks. James was the current manager at the library and the day I interviewed was the day I got my first job. It was fine at first other than the rude suggestive comments thrown my way whenever we were around each other. I tried to work odd hours at the time of different shift managers, but James always seemed to appear whenever I was working. Then, two weeks after I turned 16 he came onto me. I was outside waiting for Edward to pick me up when James appeared like he always did, out of nowhere.

_Flashback_

_"Hello Bella" he always managed to sound so fucking creepy, it's like a trait for him. _

_I just glanced and nodded in his direction to convey that I acknowledge his presence but I wasn't interested._

"_You waiting on someone?" He asked, and again I just nodded._

"_Well come on, it's late. Let me drive you home" I started to scan the parking lot and the street that led to the library frantically, looking for Edward's car, or anything for that matter to get me away from James._

"_Come on, Bella! I won't bite" I said in that creepy voice and I thought I heard him add 'at least not hard' at the end, but it was too low for me to be sure. _

_I couldn't just nod to this one, I had to respond, "No that's alright, my boyfriend should be here any minute now." I told him. _

_I watched as James eyes narrowed minutely and suddenly I found myself being dragged towards a car. A smaller part of my brain noted that it was a dark blue minivan._

_What a douche. What kind of grown man drives a fucking minivan…_

_After the shock wore off, I began to struggle as hard as I could in attempt to get away from this vile perverted man, but he wasn't having any of that. He slapped me until I felt blood seeping down my forehead and my vision blurred from it getting into my eyes. I didn't stop struggling; I would not go down without a fight. _

_If I hadn't been taken so off guard, I would have probably handled the situation much better, it wasn't like I didn't know self defense. Edward had made sure that Alice and I at least knew the basics. But James was stronger than he looked. He threw me into the back before I knew it; my clothes were torn and shredded. He was like a rabid dog feasting on a fresh kill. _

_I was shaking so bad it felt like I was convulsing, I knew what was coming, and I prayed harder than ever that Edward was close, and that he would know something wasn't right. I tried to look for any sign of headlights, and I saved a scream for when I saw them. _

_James thrust into me like sex was a dying trend and he wanted to go out with a bang. I knew that I was bleeding in my nether regions, and the pain was unimaginable. _

_I never thought something like this would happen; I always just regarded James as a pervert who liked to look. I would have never pegged him as one to touch, but fuck was I wrong. _

_It was at that moment that I saw the flashing of headlights. I sucked in as much air as humanly possible and let my vocal cords rip. _

_End Flashback_

The door to the minivan was ripped open at the same time that James released his fucking devil seed into me. That was the first time I thanked God that I wasn't a virgin. I can't imagine how much more painful it would have been if I were. Edward pulled out James with force and beat him until he was unrecognizable and sirens were all around us. Officers had to forcible remove Edward, who looked beyond murderous, from James who was coughing on his own blood. I was still huddled in the van trying to cover up my naked bruised and battered body.

James ended up getting five years while Edward had to do sixty hours of community service. I felt bad that he had to go through that, but he said it was a small price to pay for my safety. To this day E still beats himself up about it. He claims that if only he had been a little earlier, it would have been prevented.

When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was so fucking scared that I went in to get an abortion. They had to make sure that I was less that twenty weeks along and to do that, they had to do an ultrasound. The minute I saw my alien baby appear on the screen, I was in love. It wasn't his fault that I was brutally raped or that his father was in jail. He had every right to live, and I had to give him the chance. Even though it was one of the worst experiences of my life, it gave me the best miracle ever. Tristan Gabriel Swan was born nine months after that incident on June 16. He weighed six pounds, two ounces and was perfect.

When he was born I was scared again because he had James's hair and eye color. I was terrified that seeing these features would prevent me from loving him with all of my heart because they would remind me too much of James. Other than that those two small things, he was a little miniature male replica of me, and I was never happiers than when that theory was proved completely and utterly wrong. In fact, I have never loved anything so fiercely. It literally hurts when I can't see him and my heart throbs until I do again. If I didn't have to send him to this stupid daycare, I would have him with me at all times.

His little squeal brought me back from my inner thoughts. I looked down lovingly at my squirming baby boy and laughed.

"What's the matter Tri?" I asked. The look of impatience was adorable on his little face.

"Tri wanna go play, mommy!" he commanded

"Okay bud" I said while putting him down. He looked extremely accomplished once his tiny feet touched the ground and I couldn't help but laugh again.

"Mommy, play with Tri?" he asked with the cutest little puppy dog face. This is why I could never say no and also why he had E and Ali wrapped around his little finger. My boy was going to cause a lot of trouble when he got older, not to mention that even at three, he was already getting the attention of a lot of ladies.

I smiled and nodded to him. He grabbed one of my fingers with his tiny hand and led me over to some play blocks that were scattered around on the floor. He plopped himself down and began to build what he called his 'man-shin'. Ever since Ali told him the story of about a prince that lived in a magical mansion; he was obsessed with making 'man-shins'. He began to hand me some blocks and I put them up where they were needed, or where he commanded me to put them. I was having more fun than ever, which seemed to happen often when I spent time with my son. The world around me seemed to disappear and the judging eyes of the other mothers in the daycare faded away. All that mattered was Tri and me. He never judged me for my ink. To Tri, I was his mother and he was my son, nothing more.

I often heard other people, more specifically women talking about my son. I had to quite literally hold myself back from bitch slapping them into oblivion for talking like he was a devil child. It was not a secret in this small town how Tristan was conceived, but it did not stop the rumors. If anything, it fueled them. Many people began to say that I seduced James and that he was innocent. I could easily brush those off, but when the 'devil spawn' rumors began to spread, I put a stop that that real fast. Lauren still has a scar across her cheek to prove it. You don't mess with a mother's baby, especially mine.

Tri and I continued to build his house until we ran out of blocks, then we went onto the books. It was almost frightening how smart Tristan was. He was three and he was reading at a third grade level. E, Ali and I always joke how he got my brain, since reading is my escape. I'm glad though, my baby is no dumb fool. He picked out a longer book and we spent about twenty minutes reading it. It wasn't that long, but Tri kept interrupting asking how to pronounce certain words or what some meant. My baby was a genius. Time seemed to fly when I was with Tri and before I knew it I glanced at the clock and two hours had already passed. I was just glad that I was going to be able to take Tristan home with me.

"Come on Tri, it's time to go home" I told him, lifting myself off the ground slowly so I wouldn't fall on the assorted toys all over the floor.

"Okay, Mommy" Tri replied

He looked like he was beginning to tire so I asked, "Tri, would you like Mommy to carry you?"

His face lit up at that, "Yes pwease!" he shouted

I laughed at his lisp that every little kid has and picked him up.

"Oh! Mommy I forgot to tehw yew! I made a new friend today!" he squealed.

"Oh yeah, buddy?" I asked. At the same time I saw someone walking towards me in my peripheral vision, but I just couldn't pull my attention off of my son, even if I had just spent two hours playing with him, it still felt like forever since I saw him last rather than a little over a day. Forks had a policy that if a girl got pregnant during her years in high school, we had to enroll them in sleep away daycare once a week to observe and record our child's progress and to inadvertently make sure that no abuse was occurring. Like I would ever think of fucking hurting my baby...

If I hadn't been in suck a rush to get to my son I would have noticed the red M6 parked outside. If I hadn't been in such a rush, I would have heard the gossip about the new young girl's daughter that was around the same age as Tristan. If I hadn't been in such a rush, I would have remembered that Rosalie was not in the cafeteria and put two and two together. But I was in a rush, and I had missed all of that, and now before me was Rosalie holding beautiful girl.

"Bella?" Rosalie asked seemingly just as surprised as I was.

"Hey Rosalie" I smiled. Just then Tri began to squirm in my arms and suddenly he yelled.

"Awowa!"

At the same, the little girl in Rosalie's arms squealed, "Twistan!"

Rosalie and I shared a look and broke out in laughter. The pain the was evident in her eyes earlier seemed absent, much like mine was when Tristan was around. He simply brightened my day and reminded me there was something worth living for without even trying.

From the beautiful features and the striking blue eyes that she and her brother share, I knew without a doubt that this was Rosalie's daughter. _Unless it was Jasper's…_

"Is she yours?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. When she nodded I couldn't help but feel a strange sort of relief wash over me. I didn't understand it.

"She's gorgeous" I told her honestly, she smiled

"Thank you. You have a bit of a looker yourself." But then she blushed slightly, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to assume that he was yours he just looks…"

"He is mine don't worry about it, and thank you" I smiled warmly at her. Being around Tri always made me more friendly towards others; it was probably due to the fact that all of my walls came down when he was around.

Rosalie smiled shyly and asked what Tri's name was. Before I could answer her Tri responded for himself.

"I'm Tristan Gabriel Swan, and I'm three!" He told her with a serious look on his face, holding up three fingers to emphasize his age. I could tell Rosalie was trying hard not to laugh, but she let a giggle slip through. I sounded like bells.

"Well hello, Tristan. My name is Rosalie." She smiled fondly at my son who held out his hand for her to shake, at which she did laugh at, and I joined in. My son was too much sometimes. Edward was always teaching him how to be a gentleman, I guess he took those lessons to heart more than I thought.

_He is fucking three for crying out loud…_

"And what's your name beautiful?" I asked Rosalie's daughter

"My names Aurora Addison Whitlock and I'm three too!" Her exuberance made me laugh. She was adorable.

"My my, such a pretty name for such a pretty girl!" I told her

"My mommy always calls me her wittle merwicle!" Aurora announced proudly

"Well my mommy always calls me her wittle wonder boy!" Tri called back.

They continued to argue over which one was better for a few seconds before all was well again.

_I wish arguments were still that easy…_

I looked towards the clock to see that it was almost a quarter past two. Edward and Alice would be coming home soon.

"Hey Tri, it's time to go" I whispered to him kissing his cheek

"But mommy I wanna play with Awowa!" he whined

"Maybe some other time, baby" I soothed

"It's still earwy Mommy! Can she come over?" he asked giving me his infamous pout. I looked to Rosalie to see her in the same predicament.

"Would you mind if they played at my house?" I asked Rosalie

She looked up from her losing battle with 'the pout' and smiled shyly, "If that's okay" she said

"Don't worry" I replied; "It's hopeless to fight against 'the face'" I laughed. She joined in and I told her to follow me.

"Do you mind if Jazz and Em come over? They really wanted to see Aurora." Rosalie asked a bit hesitantly

"Of course" I said. I tried to keep the dread out of my voice at the prospect of seeing Jasper so soon after I escaped from his presence. I gave her my address and she texted it over to the boys. When they responded that they would follow Ali and E home, we left the daycare.

I strapped Tri into his car seat that was secured to the front passenger seat of my car, and we were off. I kept the speed low since we were both carrying precious cargo, and it took more than double the time to get home. It was a small price to pay for the safe transportation of our children.

When we got to the house we unloaded and went into the kitchen to make both Aurora and Tri a snack. That's when Rosalie unloaded the big guns.

"I don't mean to pry, but it is obvious that Edward is not the father. So where is he?" Rosalie didn't strike me as the type to beat around the bush, but I was definitely not expecting her to be _this _blunt.

I decided that if she really wanted to know, I would tell her. For some reason, even with all of my troubled thoughts earlier, I knew I could trust Rosalie.

"I was raped" I deadpanned

I saw Rosalie stiffen and her response was not one that I was expecting.

"So was I" then so quietly, I had to strain to hear her, she added, "twice."

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- **ZiggyLove**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Well, thank you so much for being patient with me and now I bring you another chapter of TEOS!**

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**Disclaimer (I am aware that I don't put these in…sue me) – SM owns all**

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_Previously on The Emblem Of Souls…_

_**BPOV**_

_"I don't mean to pry, but it is obvious that Edward is not the father. So where is he?" Rosalie didn't strike me as the type to beat around the bush, but I was definitely not expecting her to be this blunt._

_I decided that if she really wanted to know, I would tell her. For some reason, even with all of my troubled thoughts earlier, I knew I could trust Rosalie._

_"I was raped" I deadpanned_

_I saw Rosalie stiffen and her response was not one that I was expecting._

_"So was I" then so quietly, I had to strain to hear her, she added, "twice._

_

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**BPOV**

The realization that Rosalie and I had more in common than I thought made me want to sink to my knees. The gorgeous girl in front of me knew the same pain that I did.

I could tell that this was not a topic that we were going to delve into today, so I rushed to reassure her that she could trust me,

"We'll leave that conversation for another time." I said lightly, hoping to sound as comforting as possible.

A grateful smile in response told me all I needed to know, she understood, and she agreed.

I knew a change of subject would be a welcomed thing so I quickly stood,

"So, does Aurora like peanut butter and jelly?"

Squeals of delight and clapping of little hands told me all I needed to know.

"Here, I'll help you," Rosalie said, standing up as well.

I picked up Tristan while Rosalie got Aurora; we had an extra booster seat in storage from when Alice got overly excited while baby shopping. The prospect of shopping always got Alice out of a funk and with a rapidly growing baby in the house, let's just says Alice was one happy camper.

When both of the children were happily seated in their high chairs, I went into the pantry to get the peanut butter, then to the fridge to get the bread and strawberry jam.

"Is strawberry okay?" I asked Rosalie, knowing my son, kids would try everything at least once, but getting them to eat it again if they didn't like it the first time was hell, just like how peach jam and Tristan did not get along…at all.

"Yes, that's her favorite," Rosalie responded softly, "Can I help?"

"Sure," I smiled and got out an extra cutting board, butter knife and spoon to scoop out the jelly, and together we got to work on our children's favorite afternoon snack.

"So, I have to say, Tristan is quite the charmer." Rosalie started conversationally.

I let out a little chuckle and remembered all the times Tri got his way by flashing his little crooked grin that he picked up from Edward. I found consolation in watching as even the tiniest characteristics passed from father to son, were slowly erased, and replaced with the quirks and mannerisms of those I loved. It was as though my son was being cleansed from the inside out, if only for my benefit.

"Tell me about it, this little devil gets almost everything he wants." I poked Tri's nose with my free hand and was rewarded with a childish squeal.

Rosalie and I shared a laugh together at the spoils that our children bask in.

"I've got to say myself, Aurora is a beauty, she must get it from her mother." I smiled.

Rosalie's cheeks turned a light shade of pink while she thanked me.

"I wonder what time the rest of the guys are going to get here." Rosalie mused aloud.

"Probably in about fifteen minutes." I responded while finishing up Tri's sandwich and cutting it diagonally, just the way he liked.

"Here you go buddy," I handed Tri his snack and watched him hungrily take a bite that would make any grown man happy. I smiled at the thought that if Edward were here, he would probably scold him for not waiting for Aurora to start eating first, but before I could correct anything, Rosalie handed Aurora her plate and she too greedily dug in.

"Kids and their snacks," Rosalie mumbled with a bright adoring smile on her face while she watched our kids eat.

"Yeah, just don't get in the way of Tri eating, he might bite you," I only half joked.

Rosalie looked at me with wide eyes, trying hard to hide her laugh, as though she didn't know whether to be concerned or not.

"Alice tried to take away his cheerio's before he was done one morning. She got the shock of her life when his little mouth clamped down on her hand. Let's just say if Alice wasn't fully awake before that moment, she was definitely aware and ready to go after." I finished, snickering at the memory

"Oh my goodness," Rosalie said in between giggles. I was glad that she wasn't concerned, it's not like Tri is a rabid dog.

Just then I heard cars and the distinct sound of motorcycles racing down the street and knew that the others were here.

"They're here." I told Rosalie, just in case she didn't hear them coming down the street. I looked out the window just in time to see Alice with Emmett in the passenger seat of her Ferrari whip into the driveway at a very unsafe speed.

_Only Alice…_

Edward and Jasper followed closely behind her on their bikes. I have to admit that I spent a great deal more time than necessary ogling Jasper on his bike, and then Jasper getting off his bike, then Jasper taking off his helmet— more like a model than a thirteenth year student— then Jasper stretching his limbs waiting for Edward, then Jasper walking up our driveway...

A chuckle behind me brought me out of my little Jasper-induced coma.

"Oh hey there Bella! Is that a little drool I see there?" Rosalie teased. At first I was shocked, Rosalie didn't seem like the type to warm up to people easily, let alone tease with people whom she just met, but then again, I wasn't just anybody. We were technically in the same boat together. Perhaps that created a certain bond that transcends the awkward 'no trust' phase of a friendship. I snapped out of my little reverie enough to let what Rosalie had just said soak in and blushed bright red. But then I thought about what I had seen all day before I left to get Tri and smiled mischievously at her.

"Oh ha ha, very funny. Don't think for one minute I didn't see you ogling Edward," I teased right back causing Rosalie to blush bright red.

_Good, we can be tomatoes together…_

"We're homeee!" I heard Alice sing from the garage door, the same time I heard a whistle of appreciation.

"Damn this is a nice crib you guys got," a deep voice I recognized as Emmett's, boomed.

"…how does she handle?" I heard the last of Edward's question that was directed at Jasper as they came in last.

"Like a beauty" Jasper responded, his southern lilt made my body tingle in foreign places. I couldn't let him get to me so I tried to tune their conversation out.

Alice suddenly appeared in the kitchen, followed by Emmett who stopped dead when he saw Aurora and Tristan sitting together eating.

Next, Edward and Jasper made their appearance and they too stopped abruptly, all conversation lost. Alice seemed to be the only one that was unaffected by whatever the others were thinking about. She bounced over to where Tristan was finishing up his snack and cooed at him, giving him a kiss on the forehead before moving onto meet Aurora.

"Hello there, gorgeous! My name is Alice, what is your name?" she cooed at her.

Aurora smiled shyly at Alice's excitement and said quietly, "My name is Aurora."

Emmett seemed to snap out of his trance first and followed Alice's lead, except he walked over to Aurora and gave her a kiss and then introduced himself to Tri.

"Hey buddy. Names Emmett, what's your name?" Emmett said in a playful voice, trying hard to hide his shock.

"Tristan!" Tri screamed excitedly clapping his little pudgy hands together happily making everyone melt and laugh at his little display.

Edward shook his head a little like he was trying to clear whatever he was thinking about from his mind. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Are you sure you're comfortable with them seeing him so soon?" He whispered into my ear.

I didn't answer, simply shrugged my shoulders while he released me, it was too late to say anything anyway, they had already all seen Tri and Rosalie had already broken down some of my barriers.

When Edward stepped away from me I looked to where Jasper was standing. He had the oddest look on his face. I could clearly pick up awe and confusion, but was that _jealously_ I saw as well? What did he have to be jealous about?

He took a step towards where I was standing near Tristan and the steps following the first, seemed subconscious, like something was drawing him closer rather than his own will to come forth.

He caught Tristan's eye and a beautiful smile broke out onto his face, it was almost painful. Tristan immediately giggled and shot his arms out.

"Up!" He demanded from Jasper, which surprised me. When Tristan wasn't around me he was the most reserved baby in the world, scared and unsure of almost everything. Granted I was currently standing right next to him, he still usually looked at me for reassurance and definitely never demanded others to pick him up. He was even wary of Edward and Alice at times, and he's known them since he was born for fucks sake!

Jasper's smile got even bigger if that was possible and the last few steps were taken at a much faster pace towards where Tri was sitting with peanut butter all over his face and hands.

"Up! Up!" Tri squealed

"Okay, okay little tiger, geez," Jasper playfully mocked irritation. I could see something foreign in Jasper's eyes when he looked at my son. Something akin to my own when I was with Tri or even when I simply talked about him. I saw glimpses of it in Alice and Edward's eyes, but never completely found it. It was almost as if both Alice and Edward loved him out of obligation rather than pure and everlastingly like I did. Therefore, it was still foreign for the reason that even though Alice, Edward and I shared a bond deeper than siblings; I had yet to see this…this look in anyone else other than myself. Even if I know that E and Ali loved Tri beyond that brotherly and sisterly obligation, this was still completely different. Jasper was not tied to Tristan in any way, he was not bound my brotherhood or even friendship, this was pure. I needed time to think about this, time to re-evaluate my feelings. So, I pushed these emotions, that threatened to overtake me, away and simply looked at my son and the glorious man holding him with so much love it hurt.

"What yor name?" Tristan asked Jasper while patting his cheek, ultimately smudging peanut butter all over Jasper's face.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" I frantically tried to get Tristan out of Jasper's arms and wipe the peanut butter off of his face simultaneously; I must have been making quite the scene.

I continued this embarrassing act, you could say, until something warm and confident, that sent tingles throughout my entire body grasped gently onto my wrist, halting my efforts.

"Calm down, darlin' it's not big deal, just a little peanut butter," Jasper said soothingly. Then he did something that made me melt at his feet and also made my panties go from dry to wet instantly. He took one of his one fingers and wiped it across his cheek – the muscles in his arm rippling at the movement, and in turn, making all of his ink dance across his skin – and slowly put it in his mouth, licking off all traces of peanut butter.

I involuntarily let out a little whimper and Jasper's cerulean eyes darkened to the shade of midnight blue. I wanted him so badly, and this fact alone scared me to death.

Someone clearing their throat brought the both of us out of the trance that we put each other in. We looked towards the source to find Emmett standing there grinning like mad at the two of us. From my peripheral vision I could see the smirk on Jasper's lips and that made me smile.

Then it hit me. The way Jasper was looking at my son. They way that only people bonded by something deeper look at each other. The way that you look at something that you truly hold dear.

_Adoration and love_, that's what I saw in Jasper's eyes. That's how he was looking at my son. That thought brought happy tears to my eyes.

**JPOV**

To say I was surprised when I walked into Bella, Edward and Alice's kitchen would be the fucking understatement of the century. I was fucking floored.

I was confused when Alice told me that we were going to go over to their house after school and that Rosalie was already there, I knew that she went to go pick up Aurora. But, I pushed that confusion aside thinking that maybe she got the daycare to watch over her for a little while longer.

_But she was so fucking anxious to pick up Aurora, why the hell would she leave her there any longer than necessary?_

Dammit, I couldn't keep fighting with my inner thoughts. It was probably unhealthy.

I knew something was up, I just didn't know what it was. I pulled Emmett aside after the second to last class of the day and asked him if he knew, he got pretty cozy to Alice all throughout the day, and I already could see that he liked her a lot, and it was easy to see that she returned those feelings. He simply reiterated what I already knew. We were going over to their house after school and Rosalie was already there.

I texted Rose to see if she was okay, but never got a response. By the end of the day I was fucking fidgety and in dire need of a cigarette.

We got to their house and I wasn't surprised that it was nice. It wasn't huge, but you could see how much money and effort they put into it. I quickly got off of my bike; still fidgeting not knowing what the hell was going on. I had to wait for Edward to dismount and then followed him inside where Em and Alice had already disappeared.

I took a little while to marvel at the interior before Edward picked up our conversation from before we left,

"Your bike sounds sick man, how does she handle?" He inquired.

"Like a beauty," I responded, "and your bike is known as the fastest in the world, she must be your prized possession." I observed.

"Yeah she is definitely by far my favorite mode of transportation," Edward stated with a smirk, "we should race one of these days."

"You're on, buddy." I retorted

Alice and Em must have disappeared into the kitchen, which was where we were heading. When we got to the entryway to the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks.

It seemed like I wasn't the only one though, Edward and Emmett were also frozen. Alice however, like the bundle of energy that I observed she is, waltzed right over to where the most gorgeous baby boy was sitting, eating what looked like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She sweet talked him and gave him a kiss on the forehead before moving to the left.

That was when I noticed Aurora sitting next to the baby boy, also eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which I knew was her favorite snack.

Their introductions were lost on me; I was still staring at the baby boy who was oblivious to me standing here. A small part of my brain registered Em walking over and introducing himself, but the only reason I noticed was because the few seconds it took for him to establish himself, he cut off my view of the boy.

I saw movement to the right of the gorgeous baby and pried my eyes away to where Edward had made his way over to Bella. He pulled her into an embrace that instantly made me jealous.

_He didn't have anything going on with her right? I saw him looking at Rose all day…_

As soon as the jealousy came, so did confusion. I had no idea what was going on; Bella had a kid? It was definitely not Alice's she would have said something no doubt, and it was obviously not Edwards…_right?_ That meant that he had a father, and where was said father? Was she still with him? When Edward released her, she shrugged her shoulders minutely, like she was answering something that Edward had asked. Then suddenly she looked at me and I got lost in the deep pools of brown that were her eyes. I could feel my legs carrying me closer but it wasn't of conscious effort.

I looked back over to where Bella's son was sitting and caught his eye. The smile that overtook my face was uncontrollable even if I tried to hide it. This little boy had some kind of pull and hold over me and I didn't even know his name yet. My body went into double time and I got over to the little boy as fast as I could.

"Up!" he ordered just as I started to pick up my pace towards him.

I could feel my smile widening so much that it almost hurt.

"Up! Up!" Boy this little sucker was demanding. I chuckled; he was the most adorable kid I'd ever laid eyes on, Aurora included, which is saying a fucking lot since she is my own flesh and blood.

"Okay, okay little tiger, geez," I said in mock exasperation while picking him up into my arms. He was a sturdy baby and from what I knew about Aurora's size, since she was small for her age, I'd say he was about a year younger than her since they were around the same size.

"What yor name?" he asked me while patting my check getting something sticky and warm on my face. It could only be one thing; little kids were messy eaters anyway. I couldn't find it in me to care, but Bella seemed to think otherwise.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" She was scrambling, trying to wipe the shit off of my face and get her kid out of my arms at the same time. I had to let her know that it was fine, it was better than fine, her kid was amazing.

I reached out to grasp her wrist gently, trying my hardest to ignore the tingling feeling that ran up and down my spine when I touched her skin.

"Calm down, darlin' it's not big deal, just a little peanut butter," I said in what I hoped was a comforting voice. Her face was just so goddamn distracting, I wanted to kiss her, worship her and so much more, but right now I needed to calm her down.

To prove my point, I let go of her wrist and slid my finger across where her boy patted my cheek, transferring most of the peanut butter from my face onto my finger, then without breaking eye contact, I licked all of the peanut butter off of my finger, sucking a little longer than necessary when I saw her eyes glaze over and turn almost black. She elicited a small whimper that made me instantly hard.

Someone clearing his or her throat brought me out of my Bella induced haze, and I looked over to the source. Emmett was standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face, his eyes darting back and forth between Bella and me. I smirked at him and from the side of my vision I saw a smile spread across Bella's face and that made me uncontrollably happy for a reason that was beyond me.

I looked down at the little boy who was still in my arms only to be met with identical brown orbs that seemed to be looking straight into my soul. Then I remembered that he still didn't know my name and I still didn't know his.

"My name is Jasper." I smiled at him, causing him to grin up at me showing his little white teeth, "What's your name you little devil?" I asked, hamming my southern accent up a bit.

"My name is Tristan!" he said happily.

_Tristan…_

I always loved that name.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Tristan." I attempted a sweet voice, but come on now, I'm a fucking man, not a woman.

"You too, Japer." He said, butchering my name the same way Aurora did. It made me smile yet again.

_Would this kid ever let me frown? At this rate…no_

"How old are you, Tristan?" I asked, truly curious

"This old!" Tristan shouted gleefully holding up three little pudgy fingers. I was a little surprised. He was really small for his age, especially for a boy. Perhaps he, like Aurora, was premature, that would explain it.

I looked over to Bella, who had remained deafeningly quiet throughout the interaction between her son and me. When I saw tears in her eyes, I wanted to drop Tristan and rush over the few feet to her side and hold her until whatever was bothering her went away.

_What the fuck? Where are these feelings coming from?_

But, alas, Tristan was too precious, and instead I went for staring at her with what I knew was a concerned expression, silently asking her what was wrong.

'_Happy Tears,' _she mouthed to me causing me to raise my brow in question. What made her so happy that she wanted to cry? Bella simply shook her head at me, ending our little silent exchange just like that.

She quickly swiped her eyes with her hand and turned to face the others who were conversing silently with each other, Aurora in Rosalie's arms with Edward watching over them with an adoring smile lighting his face. Usually, I would turn into an overprotective fucker when some guy tried to get with Rose, and even more so when Aurora was around, but for some reason I knew Edward was perfect for Rose, just like Alice was perfect for Em.

"Shall we go to the living room and talk?" Bella asked politely

We all nodded and Alice waltzed right out the entry opposite from the one we came in though. We all followed her and were soon in a room with tall ceilings and a stone fireplace in the corner. Above the fireplace hung a plasma television that was at least sixty inches, and I could see the wheels in Emmett's mind contemplating how he could sneak our X-Box into here to play.

"Don't even bother Emmett, we have a bigger screen downstairs that already has X-Box and a PS3 hooked up, so you won't have to sneak anything in," Alice said without looking back at him.

Emmett froze from where he was standing and openly gaped at Alice who was now sitting on the corner of one of the three loveseats in the room with her legs pulled under her, effectively making her look even more like a little girl. She had an innocent expression on her face, but knowing Alice, she was anything but innocent.

"How…how…how did you know?" Emmett stammered looking like a lost puppy with a confused expression on his face.

"I could see it written all over your features, big guy," She said slyly, and patted the seat next to her. Dazed, Emmett walked over and sat down next to her, earning chuckles from the rest of us.

_Oh yes, they would make the perfect couple._

"Mommy sit over der! By da window!" Aurora squealed from Rose's arms, trying to squirm her way over to the loveseat closest to the windows faster. For a small three year old, I knew Aurora was strong, and I could quickly see that Rose was loosing her grip on her. Edward must have seen this too and quickly but gently scooped Aurora out of Rose's arms and carried her to her desired seat. Rose followed with a grateful smile on her face and sat down next to Edward who now had Aurora conveniently placed in his lap.

"Japer! Sit!" Leave it to Tristan to shout out orders.

_He would make a good little general_…

I laughed and looked to Bella with mirth clearly written all over my face.

"Well you better sit before he starts patting your cheek and demanding," Bella said with a laugh. She of all people knew how direct her son was and could be when he wanted something.

I guess our two-second exchange must have been too long for Tristan because right when I was about to start moving I felt his little hand on my face.

"Japer come on! Sit!" he ordered patting my cheek with a little force.

_Bet this kid packs a punch…_

I laughed at his antics and went over to sit, knowing that Bella was right behind me. I sat down on one end of the sofa, putting Tristan in my lap, but he wasn't having any of that. He crawled to the middle, leaving just enough room for Bella to come and sit down. I looked down at him with adoration and then looked up to Bella who had just taken a seat. The look of love she gave Tristan made my heart ache. As though she sensed my eyes on her, she looked up at me and we shared a smile.

When we broke our little moment, I looked around the room at everyone else, and suddenly the atmosphere changed from one of happiness to one of seriousness. Bella chose that moment to speak. I was surprised at how strong she was, she didn't seem like the type to take leadership, but it seemed like she was doing exactly that all afternoon.

"Well as you can see, I have a son" she started, "he is three and his name is Tristan, as you already know." She paused and took a deep breath.

"He apparently made friends with Aurora at daycare today, and supposedly they are now best buds." there was a pause as we all smiled about the budding friendship.

"I met up with Rosalie at the daycare center when I was about to leave, but Tri and Aurora demanded that they wanted to spend more time with each other, so here we are." Bells closed her eyes and let out a cleansing breath.

"Rosalie and my... the circumstances..." she stuttered, "as far as the conception of our children, are..are the same. Which is why—" She was cut off by what can only be described as growls sounding throughout the room, noises that I noticed I myself was making, and were emitting from Edward, as well. Alice and Em just looked lost and sad.

"Please, don't be mad," Rose said looking at Edward who clenched his jaw but nodded with a tight smile.

I looked at Bella, who had her head down and eyes shut tightly. I reached over and grabbed her hand, rubbing soothing circles across her knuckles. I was relieved and also a little happy when she grabbed onto my hand and held it tightly. At the same time, Tristan reached up and patted his mother's cheek.

"Don't be sad, Mommy. Tri and Japer are here for you" I was astonished by how much this little being knew and understood. He truly was a remarkable child, wise beyond his years.

"Please Bella, continue," Rose said soothingly, I could tell that she admired Bella a great deal. I found that I did, too. Her strength and will alone was enough to drop me to my knees and worship her for eternity.

Bella looked up at Rose, gave her a watery smile and continued.

"—Which is why we came here and why all of you are here right now." Bella finished, and I was so proud of her. This was all new to me, all of these feelings.

Never in my life did I care for someone more than I did myself, other than Rose and Em that is, but they were family. Though the reputation that we earned wherever we went was mostly based on false assumptions and frivolous rumors, there was still fact in each word said, no matter how trivial that fact may be, it was still there. People had every right to be scared of us, simply because we guarded what was ours with our lives, we were probably some of the most passionate people out there. Let alone being only nineteen, there were some fifty-year-olds that didn't have half of the drive that we had. None of them knew what it was like to live for nothing, yet everything at the same time.

At our age, you would expect that we lived for only ourselves; for petty problems and fight for irrelevant things, but that couldn't be more off the mark. We fought to live; we fought to free ourselves from the chains of abuse and addiction.

We fought for each other.

And never had I felt the need to protect anyone other than Rose and, on the off chance that he needed my help, Em. But Bella was different, and even Alice and Edward were worming their way into my heart.

These people were in every way my family, just like Rose and Em were and that surprised the fuck out of me. After one fucking day, I knew this.

_One fucking day…_

But I couldn't bring myself to care any more about it other than the initial surprise that came with it.

Though nothing was set in stone yet, I knew that everything would work out in the end.

_All we had to do was get there…_

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